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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26161249">Prodigy-Like</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fragilecapricornpanic/pseuds/fragilecapricornpanic'>fragilecapricornpanic</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>PRE-WRITTEN, Pre-Canon Sibling Encounters [40]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Humor, Ben Hargreeves &amp; Klaus Hargreeves Friendship, Ben Hargreeves Deserves Better, Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Canon Compliant, Diego Hargreeves is Bad at Feelings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, One Shot, One Shot Collection, POV Diego Hargreeves, POV Vanya Hargreeves, Pre-Canon, Protective Ben Hargreeves, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Sad Ben Hargreeves, Sibling Bonding, Soft Diego Hargreeves, Soft Vanya Hargreeves, Vanya Hargreeves Deserves Better, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:09:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,263</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26161249</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fragilecapricornpanic/pseuds/fragilecapricornpanic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>(Pre Vanya’s book)</p><p>Diego gives Vanya a ride to one of her concerts, giving them plenty of time for sibling bonding. Plus, Klaus (and Ben) are tagging along - uninvited. Four Hargreeves in an enclosed space is going to be fun.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ben Hargreeves &amp; Diego Hargreeves &amp; Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves &amp; Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves &amp; Vanya Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves &amp; Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves &amp; Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves &amp; Vanya Hargreeves</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>PRE-WRITTEN, Pre-Canon Sibling Encounters [40]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869709</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>145</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Prodigy-Like</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Driving upstate wasn’t really something Diego did, he’d probably never even left the city since he’d left the academy. They’d travelled quite a lot as kids, even going all the way to Europe once or twice. Diego knew he should remember why Vanya needed a ride here. It was something to do with her violin, he had no idea what though. A recital, a performance, a camp? He couldn’t bring himself to ask as he knew it would make her feel like shit. She never felt listened to, and Diego <i>had</i> tried to listen - he’d just been really busy and tired lately. “You nervous?” he grunted, keeping his question vague enough to not let her know he didn’t know where the hell she was going.</p><p>“Kinda...” Vanya mumbled, buttoning and unbuttoning her sleeve as a way to occupy herself “I’m not as good as the others.” she admitted quietly. She was going to be so embarrassed, it would be incredibly obvious that she was substandard. Hopefully they didn’t just kick her out over how terrible she was.</p><p>Diego took his eyes from the road to glance over to his sister, brow slightly furrowed. “Weren’t you like a prodigy?” he murmured before putting his vision back ahead. She’d been playing since they were kids, and she’d always sounded so professional. When they lived in the academy, it was like someone was just playing a record of some fancy violinist - not a child practicing.</p><p>A gentle scoff escaped Vanya’s lips. “No, not really.” she replied with absolute certainty. Was it too late to back out? She probably would stop the trip right now if it hadn’t been Diego driving her. Vanya would feel too guilty wasting her brother’s time. He probably had better things to do, being extraordinary. As much as she liked Diego, it was still very difficult to be around her siblings - she always felt so small. Even smaller than her physical build. Like an ant amongst giants. </p><p>“You sounded pretty... prodigal-like to me.” Diego admitted, feeling kind of bashful over the half-compliment. Compliments were too close to emotions, he liked to stay well out of <i>that</i> zone. </p><p>Her brother just didn’t know anything about violin, Vanya thought. As nice as it was for him to say such a thing, she knew he was wrong. “I’m pretty average.” she informed her brother, her voice sounding flat. “It’s not exactly a superpower.” she mumbled, almost under her breath. Diego outranked nearly all of their siblings, even if the violin had been her superpower she still would’ve been lesser than him. “That would be a <i>fabulous</i> super power!” Klaus exclaimed with a clap, causing Vanya to violently flinch - she’d forgotten he was there.</p><p>“Ignore him.” Diego grunted, shooting a glare at the idiot through his rear view mirror. Diego was so grateful for the rare times Klaus was dopy enough to sleep - hopefully he’d be able to drop back off. Being stuck in an enclosed space with him was always hellish. </p><p>Vanya nervously glanced over her shoulder for a moment, offering her other brother a shy smile. He returned a lazy grin, looking like he would’ve pinched her cheeks like a baby had they not been in a car. “...Thanks?” Vanya tentatively replied, unsure if his superpower statement had been a compliment or not. She turned back around and stared out of her window, watching them pass by other cars. It was raining heavily, which Vanya thought was fitting - she would be a downer in her performance today. “I’m not your translator!” Klaus hissed to the empty seat to his side. Vanya and Diego shared a fleeting moment of eye contact, both looking as confused and concerned as the other. “Can we make a pit stop?” Klaus whined “We’re hungry.” Vanya bit down on her lip, not knowing how to respond to whatever <i>that</i> was.</p><p>”No. Go back to sleep.” Diego instructed bluntly, having no patience for this bullshit. He looked through the mirror to glare at his brother, and received pathetic pleading eyes in return. “This isn’t a road trip.” he grumbled, pulling off the highway to find the diner he recently saw a sign for.</p><p>—</p><p>Having just used the restroom, Diego sauntered over to the booth his siblings had chosen in his absence. He was going to sit next to Vanya, he didn’t want to be remotely near Klaus. “Can you sit somewhere else?!” Klaus abruptly yelped just as Diego began to shuffle into his seat. “Why the hell do you want me to sit next to you?” Diego replied sternly, his brow furrowed in confusion. Klaus looked even more confused than Diego due to his question. His brother narrowed his eyes at him - like he was speaking another language Klaus didn’t know. </p><p>“Oh!” Klaus giggled, slumping further into his seat once he’d finally understood what his living brother had meant. “I don’t want you to sit <i>next to me</i>, it’s just...” Klaus glanced at Ben sitting next to Vanya. He looked so happy to be near to her, Klaus knew she was the sibling he missed the most. “...someone is sat there.” Klaus drawled, wincing at how insane he sounded. Diego’s lips formed into a tight line, scowling over at his brother. </p><p>Letting out an extremely irritated sigh, Diego sauntered over to grab one of the spare chairs from an unused table. He dragged it over to the end of their booth, grumpily plonking himself down on it. Vanya was shifting in her spot uncomfortably, seeming a tad freaked out that someone was apparently sat to her side. Diego cleared his throat so Vanya would meet his eye, and gave her a subtle shake of the head. <i>It’s not a ghost</i> his face read. She understood, they both knew their brother was high and therefore powerless. A small, tight lipped smile was sent to Diego in response. </p><p>“Will you <i>please</i> tell her she’ll be great?” Ben pleaded, wishing his brother would actually translate for once. It’s not like he could tell her himself. It was always comforting to be around his siblings, but the way they would look through him as though he wasn’t even there was quite distressing. Klaus glared at Ben and shook his head firmly, shovelling half a pancake into his mouth. He was just refusing out of pettiness, they’d had a bad argument a few days prior. </p><p>Vanya picked at her french toast like a bird, barely making a dent with each mouthful. Diego was making his way through a cup of coffee with a scowl across his face. Vanya felt guilty, he wouldn’t even be sat here had she not asked him for a ride. Klaus was practically inhaling his pancakes, and sending dirty looks to the empty space to Vanya’s left. She knew it wasn’t a ghost, but it still made her feel uneasy. Who did he think it was? Was it so called Ben? “So...” Vanya mumbled awkwardly “why are you here?” she directed the question to her seance brother. Vanya winced slightly as she noticed how rude that had sounded. Klaus didn’t seem to mind, if anything he just smirked. She still felt regretful, though. “Not that I’m not glad to see you.” She quietly spluttered, feeling rather stressed.</p><p>Klaus waved a hand at his sister’s direction, attempting to shoo away her panic. “Di was giving me a ride anyway, but then we thought it would be a fun family road trip!” Klaus sarcastically announced with a large grin. He had to stop himself from snapping at Ben when he passive aggressively snorted. </p><p>“You wouldn’t get out of the car, jackass.” Diego grunted, feeling tempted to get a refill of his coffee just so he could throw it over Klaus’ face. It was infuriating knowing once he’d dropped Vanya off, Diego was going to have to ride back home completely alone with Klaus. His brother scoffed in response, but Diego wasn’t sure if it was directed to him or his imaginary friend. The little devil sat on Diego’s shoulder suggested for him to make Klaus get doped up enough to sleep again. </p><p>—</p><p>”We should take them on Jerry Springer, don’t you think? Or maybe Maury. I guess it could be Oprah too, we <i>are</i> famous. Especially Allie. Did you see her new movie by the way? I missed most of it but apparently it was... what did you say it was?... That’s right, cringeworthy! Her wardrobe was fabulous though, lucky bitch. I wish I had Allie’s power... shut up, I would <i>not</i> be dead.” Klaus rambled rapidly, punctuating his sentences with giggles. Both of his living siblings had stopped replying minutes ago, but he hadn’t seemed to notice. He’d come back from the diner’s restroom dramatically more awake than he had entered, which had caused Diego to release an anguished groan. </p><p>Tightening his grip on the steering wheel so harshly that his arms had began to ache, Diego shot his brother a filthy look through the mirror. “We’re not famous anymore.” he decisively drawled. They weren’t, no one even thought of the Umbrella Academy anymore - besides when Luther would stupidly go on solo missions. “And stop talking about them. It’s gross.” Diego really didn’t want to think of his families little version of diet incest.</p><p>It had been odd for Vanya to watch her brothers’ fame dwindle. They all seemed rather happy about it. She supposed she noticed the fame, and subsequent lack of fame, more than they did. It was the norm for them to be recognised and stopped on the street as kids, but for Vanya she’d been painfully uninteresting. The world didn’t even know there <i>was</i> a Number Seven. “Do you ever get recognised anymore?” she asked without intending to.</p><p>”Not really, people just think I’m-“ Klaus whistled a cuckoo sound and then snorted ungraciously. Vanya glanced down at her hands, frowning slightly. She imagined Diego’s expression was likely similar to her own. “I told this guy once and he punched me in the face!” Klaus blurted amusedly.</p><p>”Because you told him you were The Seance then lied and said you could conjure his grandma.” Ben deadpanned, unimpressed with Klaus’ retelling of the tale. He’d just been trying to get money out of the guy.</p><p>”Irrelevant.” Klaus bluntly replied, shoving his hand through Ben’s ghost since he knew it made him shudder. It made Klaus shudder slightly too, but it was worth it.</p><p>Diego hadn’t been recognised for a long time, which he always found quite hard to believe due to his distinctive scars. Though he <i>always</i> wore long sleeves to cover his tattoo, even in the hottest days of summer. “I don’t get noticed.” he grunted, glancing over to his sister for a moment. She looked uncomfortable, Diego wasn’t sure if it was the subject matter or merely the fact she was trapped in a car with her siblings. “I don’t know why she’d <i>want</i> to be famous...” He really couldn’t understand that. She’d always been drawn to fame like a moth to light.</p><p>”You know Allison has to be the center of attention.” Klaus earnestly declared, causing all three of his siblings to make an array of amused noises. “Hey!” Klaus squealed “I don’t <i>try</i>, it just comes naturally...” he muttered defensively. Ben knew that was unfortunately true. His brother’s innate attention grabbing nature had gotten him in trouble more times than Ben could count.</p><p>—</p><p>”Good luck.” Diego kindly smiled at his little sister as she opened the car door. Diego still had no clue what it was she was doing, but he assumed it was some kind of concert given the theatre they’d driven to. Vanya peered over her shoulder at him. She opened her mouth to speak, what Diego assumed was going to be a thank you; but their brother had other ideas. “You’re going to be great, you were always so talented. He-<i>I</i> used to love listening to you, your music always made B-<i>me</i> feel better after training or a hard mission. <i>I</i> wish I could do that still, I miss you every day.” Klaus babbled incoherently. “Um, not that I can’t still see you, I’m not <i>dead</i>!” Klaus wheezed in an anxious manner. Bizarrely, he’d been staring at the empty seat next to him the entire time, rather than Vanya.</p><p>Vanya and Diego once again shared a second of slightly disturbed, and massively incredulous eye contact. “Um....” Vanya nervously turned to face her brother “thanks?” she mumbled. Klaus smiled in return, looking ever so slightly unhinged. Holding back a sigh, Vanya faced Diego. “Thanks, Diego.” she grinned bashfully before hopping from the car.</p><p>The car door slammed behind their tiny sister, and Diego threw a pack of gum directly at Klaus’ throat - hoping to wind him enough to shut him up. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” he sneered, peering over his seat to scowl at his brother. Hopefully his nonsense hadn’t confused Vanya enough to mess with her rhythm, or whatever. Diego wasn’t really sure how orchestras worked, he assumed they had rhythm.</p><p>”Thank you.” Ben snickered to his brother, finding the way he’d spluttered out his message absolutely hilarious. Klaus deserved to look insane after he’d been such an asshole to Ben all day. “You should probably shut up, I think Diego might murder you...” he uttered, holding back a chuckle. Klaus rolled his eyes at Ben before turning to Diego and instantly changing his eyes to resemble Puss in Boots. Diego blew frustrated air from his nose and turned back around to set off on their torturous journey home.</p>
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